Travel Blog Dec 21-24 At Sea

Travel Blog

Dec 21-24, 2011

At Sea, North Pacific,  aboard MV Queen Victoria

Saturday Dec 24

Lat. N 25 28, Long W 140 11

Speed 19 kts,  heading SW

We are now less than two days from Hilo, our first port of call on this voyage.

We drove from Desert Hot Springs to the Port of Los Angeles cruise terminal at San Pedro in just over two hours, a distance of 120 miles.  The freeways were not crowded and moving smoothly so we had no trouble with our trip. 

We had to wait for boarding for nearly two hours, due some earlier problems with customs that the ship had to deal with on the voyage that disembarked prior to our embarkation.

Cunard’s Queen Victoria is a modern ship with most of the traditional features of the typical cruise ship as well as much of the elegance of the great historic ocean liners.  We were warmly received and were introduced to some of the expected Cunard vocabulary.  Our ship is a liner and not a cruise ship.  We are on a voyage and not a cruise.  We have a stateroom and not a cabin.  We are guests, not passengers. Our stateroom on deck one is larger than we are used to and has a nice window overlooking the ocean.

We were impressed with the many traditions that Cunard is preserving.  Most of the senior staff is British.  The décor is fascinating.  Emphasis is on comfort, classiness and elegance.  The line features “White Star Service,” a tradition maintained since the line’s merger with the White Star Line in 1934. There are also three levels of service and dining rooms reserved only for the top paying guests. We haven’t been invited up to the Queen or Princess level which requires a different type of key card. It would be interesting to see how the other guests are living. We have seen video of these accommodations and most are larger than our 2000 sq ft home! But we don’t expect to be invited to see these decks.

The guests onboard are from a variety of countries.  We have only about 700 Americans from the total of 2000.  There are nearly that many Brits, with many from other countries.  We were pleased with the friendliness and courtesy from guests and staff alike.

The weather has been overcast with some sun breaks.  Until today, we have not had much deck chair weather, but as we approach the tropics things are improving.  A following wind means that there is very little wind across the decks and walking is comfortable.

We have early seating for dinner, at 6:30.  Thursday and Friday were formal nights.  John wore his tux one night and a new blue suit the second.  Donna wore a beautiful purple dress the first night and long black skirt and a brocade jacket on the 23^rd.  We were amazed at the number of tuxedoes present. Our tablemates are Californians, originally from Northern Ireland and are pleasant company. 

Wednesday was the second night of Hanukkah and we attended the candle lighting and services the first two evenings.  There was a turnout of about 50.  We will continue to go this event until Hanukkah ends.

We enjoyed attending the functions held in the Queen’s Room the last two evenings.  A black-and-white ball was held Thursday and a Masquerade Ball last night. There are other formal balls planned on the various formal evenings.  They also present high tea every afternoon with white gloved waiters serving finger sandwiches and tiny pastries. With all of the guests from the UK, tea time is very important and attracts many of the guests each afternoon.

We were well-received at our lectures in the 820 seat Royal Court Theatre, which is fashioned after a West-end London theatre, complete with box seats.  There are three other lecturers onboard, each of whom covers different subjects. We have never had so many other lecturers on board the same cruise so it is interesting to listen to these other men present their shows. Donna is the only female lecturer and we are the only lecturers that are not selling their book. Maybe we should write another book so we can sell it on future cruises!

Our first presentation, Wonders of Hawaii, at 10:00 am on Thursday had an attendance of about 600.  Friday, during the noon hour, we did our second program, Wayfinders of the Pacific, with a slightly smaller attendance. Our lectures are televised and shown on cabin television the next day, for those who missed the live program.  We have received many nice comments from guests. We are not scheduled to present again until after we have visited the four scheduled ports on different islands in Hawaii. We will be presenting two additional shows on the voyage home.

There is classical entertainment throughout the ship  all day long with string quartets, harp players and lots of grand pianos all being used. The evening shows have been quite good. There is lots of gorgeous costuming and dancing from different countries of the world. There is a casino on this ship but we have never seen more than a dozen guests in there gambling. 

Today there was a gingerbread house building contest judged by the captain and tonight there will be caroling and midnight mass. The ship is tastefully decorated with dozen of Christmas trees and poinsettias and garlands on every table, banister and railing.

We are looking forward to the four days in the Hawaiian Islands as we have reserved a rental car and will explore areas of each island that we have not seen on previous trips.